Congratulations to the following ACAPT 2021 award recipients who received their awards at the Educational Leadership Conference (ELC).

Emerging Educator Award: Early Career

This award identifies and honors one physical therapist "emerging educator"; a person who has demonstrated excellence in academic or clinical teaching in a physical therapy education program early in his or her physical therapy career.

Sarah Caston, PT, DPT
Assistant Professor, Emory University

Dr. Sarah Caston has shown contributions to scholarship, teaching, service, and administration/leadership throughout the early years of her career, marking her as an emerging educator. Through her scholarly works, Dr. Caston has contributed to the body of knowledge through journal publications, national presentations, and grant-funded projects. Dr. Caston’s teaching integrates humanities, ethics and social justice throughout her pedagogy and her commitment to life-long learning and excellence with board specializations in neurologic and geriatric physical therapy reflect her eclectic expertise.  She serves on the nominating committee with the ACAPT Consortium for the Humanities, Ethics & Professionalism (CHEP). 

Innovation Award

This award honors a physical therapist who has shown innovation in delivery of educational content that has made a significant impact in learning opportunities for students. 

Patricia Ohtake, PT, PhD, FNAP
Associate Professor & Assistant Vice Presentient for Interprofessional Education, University of Buffalo

Dr. Patricia Ohtake has been innovative throughout her entire career demonstrating a well-rounded way of thinking outside the box when developing course resources and learning activities for students. She develops creative learning experiences fostering interdisciplinary collaboration by uniting with education partners both inside and outside of her academic unit. Her innovative designs to learning, like her escape room simulation and “Saving Alice” learning activities, build teamwork skills among interprofessional student groups with large contributions toward IPE.  She is also a member of the ACAPT National Interprofessional Education Consortium (NIPEC).

Friend of PT Award

The award honors a non-physical therapist who serves in an administrative role in higher education. This individual goes above and beyond his/her role as an administrator to support excellence, innovation and excellence in academic physical therapy education. 

Douglas Ander, MD
Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of Undergraduate Education for Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine

Dr. Douglas Ander is a higher education administrator who uses his role to promote excellence in and inclusion of physical therapist education. He is a continuous advocate for PT education from involving PT faculty, Orthopaedic PT residents, and DPT III students in an educational learning experience for Department of Emergency medicine students to ensuring representation by PT faculty members for interprofessional teams and routinely inviting PT education leaders to the table for large decisions and initiatives.